Macotakara, the Japanese Apple-focused blog that recently made the headlines by showing pictures and a video of an upcoming iPad 2 case, heard from “a company which provides LCD screens to Apple” that the Cupertino-based company is about to include a 3D LCD panel in the next generation of the iPod touch.
The display is expected to use the same technology as “the 3D display found in the Nintendo 3DS,” a technology that doesn’t require the use of special 3D glasses.
While the presence of a 3D screen in the next generation iPod touch would be an unexpected surprise, Apple has been investigating the technology for a while, as over the last four years, Apple filed several patents applications for 3D-related technologies, including an application for “systems and methods for adjusting a display based on the user’s position.”
According to the blog, the next generation iPod touch will leverage both motion sensors and gyroscope to automatically adjust the viewing angle of the picture on the screen, based on the user’s inputs, and his/her position relative to the device.
If this rumor proves to be true, the presence of a 3D screen in the iPod touch would imply that Apple is increasingly seeing the iPod touch as a device built for gamers. Apple would also go head-to-head against Nintendo. Note that the Nintendo 3DS has not been released yet though, as the device is expected to launch on February 26 in Japan, and March for the rest of the world.